Dr Myles Lavan
Research Interests
- Political, social and cultural history of the Roman empire
- Roman citizenship
- Ideology and language of empire
- Quantitative methods in ancient history
- Roman historiography, especially Tacitus
- Comparative history of ancient empires
Current research projects
My main focus has been Quantifying Enfranchisement, a project to quantify the spread of Roman citizenship from Augustus to Caracalla. The project centres on a novel, probabilistic approach to uncertainty in historical estimation. The initial phase was supported by a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship (2014-15). I have published the methodology and the preliminary results in an article in P&P 2016.
I am collaborating with Clifford Ando on Roman Citizenship from Hadrian to Severus Alexander, a British Academy/Leverhulme-funded project (2016-18) that will revisit the conventional narrative that Roman citizenship had already been evacuated of most of its significance before Caracalla’s universal grant, in the light of my new perspective on the limited scale of enfranchisement before 212.
I am also working to develop the methodological implications of my analysis of enfranchisement in the context of Probabilistic approaches to uncertainty in pre-modern history, a project supported by an AHRC Leadership Fellowship (2017-2019) which aims to demonstrate the wider potential of the probabilistic approach by deploying it to several new problems.
Longer-term projects include a collaboration with Christopher Whitton on a ‘Green and Yellow’ commentary on Tacitus Annals 14 for Cambridge University Press and work to expand on Slaves to Rome (Cambridge, 2013) with a number of article-length studies further exploring how the Roman elite conceptualized their imperial project.
Research Students
I would be very happy to supervise research projects in the areas listed above and on other aspects of Roman history and Latin literature. I have supervised PhD dissertations on:
- Images of foreign peoples and place in Roman art
- Writing the lives of Roman emperors
- Roman land division
- Actor Network Theory analysis of Early Roman Iberia
- The Triumviral aristocracy
Publications
Cosmopolitanism and empire: universal rulers, local elites, and cultural integration in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean
Lavan, M. P. (ed.), Weisweiler, J. (ed.) & Payne, R. (ed.), 3 Nov 2016, New York: Oxford University Press. 296 p. (Oxford studies in early empires)
Research output: Book/Report › Book
Slaves to Rome: Paradigms of Empire in Roman Culture
Lavan, M. P., 2013, Cambridge University Press. (Cambridge Classical Studies)
Research output: Book/Report › Book
Constitutio Antoniniana
Lavan, M. P., 2019, Oxford Classical Dictionary.
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary
The foundation of empire? The spread of Roman citizenship from the fourth century BCE to the third century CE
Lavan, M. P., 2019, In the Crucible of Empire: The Impact of Roman Citizenship upon Greeks, Jews and Christians. Berthelot, K. & Price, J. (eds.). Peeters, p. 21-54
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Pliny Epistles 10 and imperial correspondence: the empire of letters
Lavan, M. P., 2018, Literary Interactions under Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian. König, A. & Whitton, C. (eds.). p. 280-301
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Peace and empire: pacare, pacatus and the language of Roman imperialism
Lavan, M. P., 2017, Peace and reconciliation in the classical world. Moloney, E. P. & Williams, M. S. (eds.). Ashgate
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Writing revolt in the early Roman empire
Lavan, M. P., 2017, The Routledge History Handbook of Medieval Revolt. Firnhaber-Baker, J. & Schoenaers, D. (eds.). London: Routledge, p. 19-38
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Cosmopolitan politics: The assimilation and subordination of elite cultures
Lavan, M. P., Weisweiler, J. & Payne, R., 2016, Cosmopolitanism and empire: Universal rulers, local elites and cultural integration in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean. Lavan, M., Payne, R. & Weisweiler, J. (eds.). Oxford University Press, p. 1-28
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
‘Father of the whole human race’: Ecumenical language and the limits of elite integration in the early Roman empire
Lavan, M. P., 2016, Cosmopolitanism and empire: Universal rulers, local elites and cultural integration in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean. Lavan, M., Payne, R. & Weisweiler, J. (eds.). Oxford University Press, p. 153-168 (Oxford Studies in Early Empires).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
The empire in the age of Nero
Lavan, M. P., 2013, A Companion to the Neronian Age. Buckley, E. & Dinter, M. (eds.). Wiley-Blackwell, p. 65-82 (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Epistemic uncertainty, subjective probability, and ancient history
Lavan, M. P., Jul 2019, In : Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 50, 1, p. 91-111
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Gender Bias and the Journal of Roman Studies
Lavan, M. P., Kelly, C. & Thonemann, P., 2019, In : Journal of Roman Studies.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
The army and the spread of Roman citizenship
Lavan, M. P., 24 Jul 2019, In : Journal of Roman Studies. 109
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
The manpower of the Roman fleets
Lavan, M. P., 2019, In : Journal of Roman Archaeology. 32, p. 183-200
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
The spread of Roman citizenship 14-212 CE: quantification in the face of high uncertainty
Lavan, M. P., 1 Feb 2016, In : Past & Present. 230, 1, p. 3-46
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Florus and Dio on the enslavement of the provinces
Lavan, M. P., Dec 2013, In : Cambridge Classical Journal. 59, p. 125-151
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Slavishness in Britain and Rome in Tacitus’ Agricola
Lavan, M. P., May 2011, In : The Classical Quarterly. 61, 1, p. 294-305
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Slaves to Rome: The rhetoric of mastery in Titus’ Speech to the Jews (Bellum Judaicum 6.238-50)
Lavan, M. P., 2008, In : Ramus: Critical Studies in Greek and Roman Literature. 36, 1, p. 25-38 14 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Review of Andrew C. Johnston, The Sons of Remus: Identity in Roman Gaul and Spain. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press, 2017.
Lavan, M. P., 2017, In : Bryn Mawr Classical Review. 2017.11.57
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
The New Green-and-Yellow of Agricola (on A. J. Woodman, ed., with Christina S. Kraus, Tacitus: Agricola)
Lavan, M. P., 2015, In : Histos. 9, p. xxxix-xlv
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
Keith Bradley and Paul Cartledge. The Cambridge world history of slavery. Volume 1. The ancient Mediterranean world, Cambridge, 2011.
Lavan, M. P., 2014, In : Journal of Roman Studies. 104, p. 289-90
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
Roman death
Lavan, M. P., Mar 2014, In : Classical Review. 64, 1, p. 231 232 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
Carlos Noreña. Imperial Ideals in the Roman West: Representation, Circulation, Power. Cambridge 2011.
Lavan, M. P., 2013, In : Classical Review. 63, p. 214-16
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
Kyle Harper. Slavery in the Late Roman world, AD 275-425. Cambridge 2011
Lavan, M. P., 2013, In : Classical Review. 63, p. 552-5
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
Eric Adler. Valorizing the Barbarians: Enemy Speeches in Roman Historiography. Austin 2011
Lavan, M. P., 13 Jan 2012, In : TLS, The Times Literary Supplement.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
Josaiah Osgood, Claudius Caesar: Image and power in the early Roman empire. Cambridge. 2010.
Lavan, M. P., 2012, In : Journal of Roman Studies. 102, p. 319-20
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
Robin Nadeau, Les manières de table dans le monde gréco-romain. Rennes/Tours 2010
Lavan, M. P., 2012, In : Classical Review. 62
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
Dylan Sailor. Writing and empire in Tacitus. Cambridge 2008
Lavan, M. P., 2011, In : Journal of Roman Studies. 101, p. 296-7
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
Aron Sjöblad. Metaphors Cicero Lived By. Lund, 2009
Lavan, M. P., 2010, In : Bryn Mawr Classical Review. 2010
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
Eric Gunderson. Nox Philologiae: Aulus Gellius and the Fantasy of the Roman Library. Madison Wis., 2009.
Lavan, M. P., 2010, In : Phoenix. Journal of the Classical Association of Canada. 64, p. 451-3
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
Philp Parker. The empire stops here. London 2009
Lavan, M. P., 12 Jan 2010, In : TLS, The Times Literary Supplement.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
Maurice Sartre. Histoires Greques: Snapshots from Antiquity. Harvard, 2009
Lavan, M. P., 1 May 2009, In : TLS, The Times Literary Supplement.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
For further information on publications, please view my profile on the university's research portal.
Teaching
- Honours modules on Ancient Empires, The Culture of Roman Imperialism, Roman Slavery and Death in Roman Culture
- Contributions to team-taught Honours Latin modules on Latin Letters and Latin Historical Writing.
- Contributions to the team-taught sub-Honours programmes in Ancient History and Latin Literature.
Academic career
My first degree was a BA in Classics from Trinity College Dublin (1995-9). I then went astray for five years – studying international politics and economics at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service (1999-2001) and working as a management consultant with McKinsey & Co (2001-4) – before eventually seeing the error of my ways. I returned to Classics and completed an MPhil and PhD at Cambridge (2004-8). I was a Research Fellow at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (2008-10) and came to St Andrews in September 2010.
I am on the editorial board of the Journal of Roman Studies (2014-) and the Council of the Classical Association of Scotland (2013-).
